Portable hose carts for convenient handling and storage of a garden hose have gained wide public acceptance. Such carts, which are chiefly made of molded plastic components, include a rotatable reel for taking up and paying out the hose, a frame including a pair of frame sides for supporting the reel, wheels at one end of the base of the frame, and a handle for tilting the frame onto the wheels so that the cart may be easily moved. For more information concerning the structure and operation of such a hose cart, reference may be made to commonly-assigned U.S. Pat. No. Re. 32,510, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
Such portable hose carts are typically not adapted for conversion to wall mounting. The inability to convert the components forming a wheeled hose cart between the hose cart assembly and a wall mounting assembly has disadvantages for both the consumer and the distributor. With respect to the consumer, should it be desired to mount the hose on a wall, the consumer would be required to purchase an entirely new reel assembly because the reel assembly which is part of the portable hose cart owned by the consumer could not be used. With respect to the distributor, a box containing components which could be assembled into either a wheeled portable hose cart or a hose reel assembly for wall mounting is desirable because fewer different types of items would need to be stocked as a purchaser could use the same item to satisfy either need.
As these hose carts are for the general consuming public, it is desirable that the carts can be easily assembled. Commercially available hose carts typically make extensive use of threaded fasteners to join major components. The use of such fasteners can be time consuming and requires the use of a simple hand tool. U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,580, the teachings of which are hereby incorporated by reference, teaches the use of a connector assembly for joining components of a hose cart. A male component of the assembly is molded with one piece of the cart, and a female component of the assembly is molded with a second piece of the cart to be joined to the first piece. These components are easily unlatched to permit disassembly of the hose cart.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,700,737 to Nelson is directed to a hose reel, held by a U-shaped yoke with a dependent arm. This arm can be received either in a bracket assembly held by a portable caddy, or by a wall mounting bracket.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,441,157 to Krenke shows a water outlet tube or pintle which has a flange riveted to the reel end, and which is coaxial with the reel. Furthermore, the hose supporting arms are spaced to permit the user sufficient room to attach the hose fitting to the threaded end of the outlet tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,768,546 to Brusadin et al. illustrates a hose winding cart including a pair of identical reel halves with each of the reel halves having a member of a snap connector assembly for interconnecting the reel halves thereby forming a completed reel.